The present invention relates to an improvement in a multi-purpose golfers tool. More specifically, to a tool which may be used to repair ball marks made while golfing and to hold a golfers pencil as used during score keeping.
Many golfing devices currently exist on the market and are known and disclosed in various patent applications and other documents. However, the common tools carried by a golfer have remained the same for quite some time. Typically, a golfer will carry in his pocket a tool for repairing golf ball divots made on a green or other surfaces of the course while playing, a pencil for keeping score and a marker for marking one""s ball on the green. As these golf instruments are all quite different, typically they may be kept in separate pockets or in various places in the cart. Often when needed, a golfer must search in his pockets or look in the cart to find the tool. It has been known to combine various golf tools into one instrument in order to prevent loss and increase ease of use for the golfer.
One such tool is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,553 Diggerness et al. This patent discloses a multi-purpose golfers tool which includes a ball mark repair instrument that is retractable, the body of which contains a pencil sharpener. Although it may be handy to have all these various instruments in one tool, typically, as a small amount of writing is done, the pencil does not need to be sharpened and usually after each round a new pencil may be easily obtained at the club house.
Another device is shown in the Cantlon Design Patent number 327,910. This patent shoes a once piece device having a divot repair tool on one end and a fixed pencil or writing instrument on the other end. This device may be rather dangerous and hard to use because of it""s long protruding writing instrument and further, when the writing instrument breaks or becomes empty, it may not be refillable or reusable.
Finally, as the pencils used throughout the golfing industry are rather standard at all courses, it may be particularly desirable to provide an instrument that can use the readily available shortened golfing type pencil.
From this discussion, it can be seen that it would be desirable to provide an instrument that may be used as a golf ball mark repair tool, a tool for containing a golf ball marker and other features. Further, it can be seen that it would be desirable to supply such a tool that may be used to hold a standard type shortened pencil as handed out at most golf courses to easily contain and hold all of these instruments in one location for a golfer to prevent loss and increase ease of use. Such a tool would allow a golfer to concentrate more completely on the game at hand without having to worry about finding or losing golf tools.
It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a tool which will allow a golfer to repair the ball mark left by a golf balls impact with the grassy surface of a putting green as a result of the high and relatively long approach shots that are common in the game of golf.
It is an additional objective of the present invention to provide such a tool that will allow a golfer to make such repairs to the surfaces of the greens of golf courses that will also provide a convenient place within which to store scoring pencils or other similar record keeping devices.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide such a tool that is inexpensive to own and manufacture and easy to use which will ensure its wide use by golfers.
These objectives are accomplished by the use of a tool that is composed of a relatively long and narrow body that is rectangular in cross section and which has at its forward end a pair of continually narrowing tines. Additionally, the body contains a tubular hollowed out cavity that passes from its most rearward surface to a point in the body between the base of the two tines. This central cavity corresponds in size and shape to the commonly used golf scoring pencil and provides a convenient place where a golfer can store his scoring pencil during a round of golf.
The body and tines of the present invention are designed to allow a golfer to lift and repair the divots made in a golf green when a golf ball impacts the soft grass upon the execution of an approach shot by a golfer. This is accomplished by the golfer pushing the tines of the invention into the surface of the green around and behind the impact divot and forcing the damaged turf back over and into the cavity of the ball mark left by the impact of the golf ball on the surface of the putting green. Once this process has been completed the golfer then simply tamps the repaired surface down to level it out and complete the repair procedure.
The body of the present invention also contains a small hole that is drilled through its entirety from the lower surface to the upper surface just behind the most rearward end of the invention""s tines. The purpose of this hole is to provide a place on the body of the invention which will allow a golfer to conveniently store a ball marker during a round of golf. A ball marker is generally a small round disc with a perpendicularly stem protruding from its center. It is then used by a golfer to mark the position of his ball on the putting green (generally for ball cleaning purposes) by inserting the pin into the putting surface directly behind the golf ball. The ball marker is stored on the body of the present invention by inserting the pin of the marker into the hole in the body and sliding it in until the disc contacts the lower surface of the invention""s body. This configuration holds the ball marker securely when not in use and allows for its easy access by the golfer during all times in a round of golf.
A further embodiment of the present invention uses similar methods of construction to those that have been previously described but employs a pencil that is capable of sliding in and out of the body of the invention without having to remove it completely. This enables a user to quickly deploy the pencil when needed for marking the scorecard while allowing the user to protect the tip from breakage by pulling it back into the body of the invention when it is not in use. The remaining major components of the previous embodiment, such as the divot repair tines and ball marker, are present in this alternative embodiment of the present invention.
The retractable pencil feature of this alternative embodiment of the present invention is made possible by the inclusion of a few altered features. The first of these is that the interior cavity of the body is equipped with a plurality of guide clip apparatuses. These guide clips are wall-like protrusions that bisect the interior cavity of the body in a manner that creates an open-bottomed tube within the body of the alternative embodiment of the present invention that is of such a diameter as to allow for the insertion of a pencil body within it. Additionally, the lower ends of the guide clips extend farther in towards the center of the interior of the body than their centers or upper portions. This creates an opening in the lower surface of the body that is of a slightly smaller width that the width of the pencil. This design allows the pencil to be forced by these protrusions when inserting it into the body while still providing a mechanism that will securely hold it in place during the use of this alternative embodiment of the present invention.
The design of the interior of the invention""s body as described above also allows the pencil to be slid both forwards and backwards within the interior without affecting its attachment therein. To facilitate this sliding feature, the body of the pencil is also fitted with a positioning apparatus. The positioning apparatus is a relatively small U-shaped device that is specifically designed and constructed to fit over the pencil tightly enough so that the movement of the positioning apparatus will likewise move the pencil. The outside walls of the positioning apparatus fit over the exterior of the pencil""s body and inside of the interior walls of the body of the invention. Additionally, the positioning apparatus also has a grip surface formed at the lower portion of it""s U-shaped body that, when properly installed, extends below the lower surface of the invention""s body.
Therefore, when a user wishes to extend the pencil for its use, he simply grasps the body in a manner so that he places the ball of his thumb on the surface of the positioning apparatus. By forcing his thumb rearward in relation to the body of the invention, the pencil tip is in turn forced out the rear of the body exposing it for use. Conversely, by pulling the thumb in a rearward manner the pencil is likewise pulled back into the interior to protect it from damage while not in use.
Additionally, this embodiment of the present invention may also use an altered pencil to facilitate its back and forth sliding motion within the interior of the body. The pencil may be modified by sharpening its most rearward end. This sharpening allows the pencil to move in and out of the guide clips easily without encountering the binding problems associated with a blunt ended pencil. The rearward end of the pencil can also be sharpened to a point which provides an additional marking point that can be employed if the other tip is dulled or broken. To utilize the alternative marking point, the pencil is removed from the body, turned around and reinserted with the rearward end of the pencil pointed outward.
For a better understanding of the present invention reference should be made to the drawings and the description in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the present invention.